Oscar's Scheme; Flender's Running Training

"Vegetables already have plenty of water in them. You don't need to add any when you stir-fry them; it seeps out on its own."

Oscar spoke to Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun as he made dinner.

As a food-type Soul Master, the kitchen was a relatively suitable mimetic environment for him, so he usually did the cooking.

Understanding immediately dawned on Ma Hongjun's great, fat face, and he gave a lewd grin. "Damn it, Oscar, is stir-frying vegetables really what you're talking about?"

"Just tell me whether it's stir-frying or not." Oscar grinned knowingly.

Dai Mubai also stopped pretending at this point, a lewd glint appearing in his devilishly charming eyes. "Little Ao, you really do have a way with words. Come on, have you set your sights on another girl lately?"

Oscar stopped stir-frying and sighed, hesitating to speak.

Dai Mubai had hit upon what was on his mind.

Ma Hongjun said, "What are you sighing for, Little Ao? With your looks, isn't picking up girls as easy as reaching out and grabbing them?"

That was true enough. Oscar really was handsome, which was also an important reason he had managed to win Ning Rongrong over in the original story.

Seeing that Oscar said nothing and only kept sighing, Ma Hongjun couldn't help marveling.

"I've never seen Little Ao like this before. So what if you can't get her? At worst, we can just go back to the brothel. I hear they've gotten several new girls who aren't bad lately. Hehe."

Ma Hongjun gave a lewd grin.

But Dai Mubai teased, "You damn fatty, can't you tell? Little Ao has fallen for that princess from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

Ma Hongjun was stunned. Then he remembered the Little Demoness who had furiously talked back to Tang San during the day and couldn't help laughing. "I never knew Little Ao liked that type. Nice, nice!"

Oscar finally spoke. "I do like her. The moment I saw her, I felt that every girl I'd ever had before was nothing but common rouge and powder. Not one of them could compare to her at all."

"But she doesn't seem interested in me. I've been trying to please her these past two days, and she hasn't responded at all. Sigh..."

Then he sank into endless melancholy.

Seeing Oscar's sorrowful expression, Dai Mubai couldn't help laughing to himself. He stepped forward, patted Oscar on the shoulder, and said:

"Little Ao, you've picked up so many girls for nothing! Don't you know you need to use a few tricks to get a woman?"

Little Ao was taken aback and hurriedly pricked up his ears.

Ma Hongjun, however, understood at once. Catching Dai Mubai's meaning, he grinned.

Dai Mubai whispered a few words into Oscar's ear, then gave a wicked smile.

Oscar said awkwardly, "Isn't that going a bit too far?"

But Dai Mubai said impatiently, "Why are you making such a fuss? I'll just ask you this: do you want to have her or not?"

Thinking of Ning Rongrong's exquisitely beautiful face, her delicate, charming figure, and the little-chili-pepper personality he was most obsessed with, Oscar couldn't help nodding and making up his mind.

"All right, let's do it!"

Then the three exchanged glances and burst into lewd laughter.

Early the next morning, Jiang Qin was still asleep when a bout of banging on the door woke him. He impatiently rubbed his sleepy eyes and got out of bed.

An old face greeted him, wearing a fake smile, though its owner's words were anything but polite. "Xiao Qin, quick. Today is the first day of formal training. I still need you to keep an eye on things, just in case anything happens."

Jiang Qin said he understood, then turned back to his room and began washing up and getting ready.

He was already well acquainted with Flender's routine.

Every year at this time, they held six months of running training, calling it endurance training.

In reality, they were simply too poor to come up with anything else.

Unlike those magic academies that could create all sorts of mimetic environments, they had to make do with physical training.

First-rate schools focused on grades, second-rate schools on discipline, and third-rate schools on physical education.

Flender really did care most about this so-called physical education. He was extremely strict and did everything by the book; anyone who dared slack off would absolutely not get away with it.

At the slightest provocation, he would slap a big label on someone-insubordination-then teach them a lesson, all under the fine name of doing it for their own good.

Fortunately, Jiang Qin never had to run each year.

It wasn't that Flender was kindhearted and gave him special treatment; rather, he genuinely felt that Jiang Qin was nothing more than a tool.

All Jiang Qin had to do was hand out recovery pills to the runners and deal with any emergencies.

To Flender, running training was the very "essence" of teaching at Shrek Academy. How could he possibly let an "outer sect" disciple get involved?

Thus, Jiang Qin could only watch.

He was happy enough with that, though, and didn't care in the least whether Flender valued him.

Jiang Qin then got up. By now, everyone had assembled on the training field. Autumn had only just begun, and the weather had yet to cool completely. As it happened, today was also a clear, brilliantly sunny day.

The scorching heat baked the earth, and everyone on the training field looked impatient and unbearably hot.

Flender stood in the shade of a tree, his expression stern, and scolded them. "Stand up straight, all of you! Stop fidgeting! You can't even endure this little bit of hardship? How will you accomplish great things in the future?"

Ning Rongrong was very impatient and grumbled inwardly, Easy for this old bastard to talk when he's not the one suffering. If you've got the guts, come out of the shade!

Seeing that most of them had straightened up, Flender smiled in satisfaction and stroked his beard before continuing. "Good. Now for your assignments!"

"Mubai! By the look of things, you'll lead the run! Aside from Ning Rongrong and Oscar, who will run twenty kilometers, the rest of you will run ten kilometers each!"

Dai Mubai nodded with a resolute expression and said yes, then walked to the starting line.

Oscar's face fell, but he didn't dare say anything and merely stood at the starting line in silence.

Tang San, meanwhile, glanced around the training field in puzzlement. He found it a little strange that Zhao Wuji hadn't come today.

Ning Rongrong was dumbfounded. Running? What was this? And twenty laps at that?

Besides, why did she, a support-type Soul Master, have to run even farther than combat Soul Masters like Dai Mubai?

Why on earth was that?

Back when she was in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she had never undergone this kind of training.

She had accompanied her father on visits to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and other famous sects, and she had never seen such a strange training method there either.

Whether they were combat or support-type Soul Masters, they all had to train by running, a method that was extremely boring?

This was far too unscientific!

Oscar came over and hurriedly tried to curry favor, as if presenting a treasure. "Rongrong, just run behind me later. I'll break the wind for you, so it'll be a little easier."

He considered this a good opportunity to win Ning Rongrong's favor.

But Ning Rongrong said nothing and ignored him. Without so much as looking at him, she walked to the starting line.

She wanted to see just what tricks Flender was playing!

And just what this running training was all about!

Jiang Qin stood to one side, leaning against a tree as he watched the scene, a meaningful smile curling at the corners of his mouth.